


The Secrets We Keep

by shyna_dovey_dovey



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Disturbing Themes, Fisting, Ghost Biology, Ghost Sex, M/M, Sadism, Skulktech, ghost lore, slight dubcon, slight masochsim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyna_dovey_dovey/pseuds/shyna_dovey_dovey
Summary: Skulker and Technus share an intimate moment.
Relationships: Skulker/Nicolai Technus
Kudos: 13





	The Secrets We Keep

**Author's Note:**

> There are some dark themes ahead, but I promise the ending is happy. Skulker is a pretty brutal sort of guy, and I really wanted to explore that concept a bit more, while at the same time providing some content to an extremely underrated ship.

"Mmh!"

Technus moaned behind the muzzle, completely unable to speak aside from moans that rumbled from his chest or whines and cries ripped from the back of his throat.

Skulker halted in his brutal thrusts for a moment to take in his wonderfully pliant prey beneath him. 

Brow muscles furrowed above Technus' glasses, long white hair strewn behind him like the bastard halo of an angel, and even behind those dark shades, Skulker could feel the desperation in his gaze from the way Technus readily splayed himself before the hunter, ready and willing to be devoured, but oh so desperate to brought to nirvana.

It was his own fault, Skulker supposed, for pushing Technus harder and harder every time they did this.

His relationship with Technus was a bit difficult to explain exactly. There were no official terms for it; they never addressed what their status was or how others should perceive them to be. Skulker wasn't all that good at things like emotions or heartfelt speeches; neither of them were.

It wasn't that Skulker didn't know how to be caring and sincere, on the contrary, he treated his love making the same as he treated his hunt; with grace and calculation until it was time for the slaughter.

In fact, Skulker was always highly observant. He had to be, to earn the trophies he hunted. But communicating his feelings one way or the other just wasn't his strong suit. He prefered his actions to speak for him instead.

"Perhaps I should have gotten that muzzle a long time ago." Skulker mused and grinned wickedly when he felt Technus trying to desperately roll his hips against him. Skulker had ceased his movements already, though he was still buried within, but unable to speak and with his arms cuffed behind his back, he couldn't make his frustrations very well known, let alone do something about it. "But it seems you're still just as demanding even without that incessant squawking. I think I should remind you of your place…"

Skulker pulled all the way out, barely managing to suppress a laugh from Technus' indignant squeak at suddenly feeling empty and unsatisfied.

Really, Technus wasn't good with communication either. For as loud and brash and long winded as Technus' speeches normally were, when it came to the bedroom, he reduced himself to noises of pleasure and simple commands like, 'more, harder, faster,'. 

That's not to say that Technus wasn't vocal, oh no, he was definitely a screamer (which Skulker would never admit that he greatly enjoyed). But if you asked him how it felt or what he wanted, his answers were short, clipped, and to the point.

Even after all this time, Skulker still hadn't quite figured out why Technus seemed so open and willing in bed, yet somehow also withdrawn and reserved. They never talked about it, of course they didn't, but Skulker could  _ feel  _ that there was an underlying tension there, and although he didn't know how to fix it, he also knew that it wasn't his fault.

This was something that Skulker had observed in Technus since the very beginning; since he took Technus' virginity from him. (Well, his "ghost" virginity at least)

Technus had been so desperate back then. He was excitable and hasty yet his disposition reeked with the fear of inadequacy. Skulker wondered, not for the first time, if those mannerisms had something to do with what Technus had been like back when he was alive.

Technus was a Dead Haunt; a ghost which had once been a living person. Most humans didn't understand the difference, but there was really quite a wide variety of different types of ghosts and it was rather disingenuous to lump them all into the same category.

Sure, the Fenton Thermos sent them all back to the Ghost Zone just the same, but ghosts had a bad reputation, sometimes by choice, but also because humans couldn't tell the ghosts apart.

Skulker, for example, was a Manifest Haunt. These were ghosts that were created from the combined energies of hundreds of different and powerful human emotions that remained residual even after those humans had long since passed. Generally, these emotions were negative, as feelings of anger and regret tended to be the strongest.

Skulker was a little different from a normal Manifest Haunt, as he'd managed to redirect his constant state of anger and aggression and improve himself for the better. He hated being small; being inferior. He was too weak to even overshadow the living for very long. So, instead, he built himself a giant suit of armor, so that he could look down on others and be seen, be powerful, and do whatever he wanted without his small and pathetic base form getting in his way.

And yes, he did also build his suit to include a ten inch long cock because it was  _ his  _ suit dammit and he could make his fake dick as big as he wanted, thank you very much.

Besides, none of his partners had ever had a problem with his size before, let alone Technus. 

Although he was about to attempt something that he'd always wanted to try, and it was going to stretch Technus wider than his cock ever (should) could.

Skulker reached for his discarded belt, which had lay forgotten at the foot of the bed as well as the rest of their clothes, and pulled out the emergency bottle of lube he always kept on his person. The contents showed that only half the bottle was left, but that should be just enough for what he planned to do.

Being a ghost did have a few benefits, after all, and your body giving away easier to tension and intrusion was one of them. So even with the lube, and the fact that Technus had been stretched already from their earlier activities, it had been fairly easy to slip one, and then two fingers inside of him, despite the fact that Skulker's robotic hand was bigger than most.

The coating of lube helped, of course, but Skulker was happy to note that the natural slick produced from ectoplasm was present in both male and female partners.

The third finger pushed forward with a little more resistance this time, and he could really feel the stretch by the time the fourth one slipped in.

Technus breathes were coming out in short, rapid succession. Skulker could feel it, the clench around his fingers and the spasm of anticipation. 

He hated it.

He loved it.

But he also hated it.

Determination fueled by deep-seated jealousy, Skulker unceremoniously globbed on the last of the lube and finally managed to work his entire hand inside of Technus' body. And oh, if it wasn't everything he could have dreamed of.

Technus had cried then stilled, frozen to the spot with too many emotions to process at once. But right here, like this, with Skulker's hand buried deep within Technus, who was still like a corpse,  _ that  _ was when Skulker had never felt the other ghost more alive.

Skulker was fascinated by life. Perhaps it was part of the bitter resentment within his soul, some of that old, spiritual longing over the want for life and the fear of death that had helped create his entire being. 

He wasn't alive, of course. Skulker had been created, not born, by a poltergeist; a torrent of negative energy brought together by supernatural forces to create a malicious entity. 

At first, Skulker had begun to hunt due to his need to feel superior, to feel powerful. But the ghosts that he killed, they didn't satisfy his bloodlust, or at least, not entirely. 

He was attracted to unique things, beautiful anomalies that were bizarre even within the Ghost Zone. And the more alive that creature seemed to be, the more Skulker wanted to capture it and possess it. His most valuable prizes, after all, he didn't kill them. No, he displayed them, proudly, so he could watch them over and over and know that it was only he who owned such a lively and outstanding creature.

But sometimes, in his darker thoughts, he had a craving. A deep urge to  _ feel  _ was it was like to be alive. And the only way to achieve this, he thought, was by going to the realm of the living and doing what he did best; take the life of something that may or may not have deserved it.

Yet it wasn't as simple as that. When the creature was dead, that meant that the hunt was over. But Skulker didn't  _ want  _ it to be over; he didn't want his dead thing to  _ stay  _ dead. He wanted it alive, but only if he was the one to make it so. 

It was a bizarre and outrageous fantasy, but he wondered, briefly, what it would be like, to cut someone open. He had done a few minor experiments in the Ghost Zone with some of the Monsters and Beasts which he had slain, but it didn't give him the satisfactory feeling that he thought it would. Instead, it just made him feel numb.

But something  _ alive _ , something in the realm of the living, maybe that would be different. Their blood was red, their bodies were frail and yet so much more delicate and complex on the inside. He wanted to see the lungs rise and fall repeatedly as they struggled to inhale the oxygen which was so precious to them. He wanted to see their brain pulse and move with thought and speech and panic and hunger, and he wanted to wrap his hand around their heart, he wanted to  _ feel  _ the way it would pulse in his grasp, to feel the most vital organ within the living being and maybe, somehow, find a way to live vicariously through it, if only for a moment, to imagine that he too had a heartbeat. To imagine the sound of blood rushing around his ears, feel the tingle of veins and neuroreceptors in his body, and take joy to expand his chest, as far as it could go, and fill his lungs with sweet oxygen to take his first, proper, real, living breath.

"Hnmf!"

Technus' moan brought Skulker back from his inner thoughts and made him revel with glee once more as he remembered the position that they were in. 

"How is it? I should have known that a freak like you would enjoy this." 

There was an edge to his tone, a deep rasp normally not present that showed just how much this was affecting Skulker too (It was most likely that he hadn't even been talking to Technus at all). Because Skulker would be lying if he said that he didn't find this pleasurable.

The act itself was kinky, of course, but it's what he felt  _ inside _ that really got him going.

Skulker had often witnessed Technus' propensity towards more human actions. Like the way he sucked in air when he was overwhelmed yet he was a ghost so he didn't need to breathe. Or the way the corners of his mouth or the angles of his brows could give away his real emotions with even the slightest of twitches and movements. Most ghosts had a flat, passive, or antagonist face, but Dead Haunts like Technus were so expressive down to the most minute of details that could easily make your head spin. He articulated more, his disposition was easy to read yet he still tried to mask his true emotions, and he was just more animated and lively when he did just about anything. 

These were all extremely human traits that Skulker found fascinating, just as much as they pissed him off.

But inside of Technus like this, he could finally feel it. 

The thrum of electricity that shot through the other ghost's body was something that Skulker had always suspected yet never managed to confirm. That is, until now.

Sometimes, when they made love, or lay close together, Skulker thought he could feel it, a tiny spark of lightning where Technus' bare skin would touch his own metal one. But the sparks were so small and inconsistent that he had never been sure if it was his own suit experiencing a twitch or if maybe it was just residual friction between them.

But now, inside of him like this, he could really feel that spark, which intensified with a jolt when he adjusted the angle and oh, wasn't that simply divine?

Skulker worked himself in and out, mind scattered as his thoughts were pulled in every which direction. There was the concentration to move his hand, to keep an eye on Technus and make sure it was still enjoyable enough for him. Then there was Skulker's inner thoughts which were screaming with intense curiosity. 

What  _ was  _ that spark, and where did it come from? Technus was a technopath, so, of course, it made sense that there would be actual electricity coursing inside of him. But where did it  _ start _ ; did he have a core? Did it make up his entire being or only a part of it? This delicious pulsing, is that as close as he could get to feeling Technus' heart beat?

His index finger slipped to hit that perfect spot and Technus all but melted around him. In fact, he likely  _ would  _ have melted if not for bonds which restricted his ghost powers.

Skulker concentrated on that one area, his own expertise in the ways of pleasure (specifically Technus' pleasure), made the task an easy one. It wasn't long before Technus was rocking his hips against him, writhing once more and Skulker, to his delight, could feel, with his own hand, the electricity that intensified and shot to his own metal fingers like a rod and transferred that same feeling of orgasmic pleasure.

It was incredible. He'd never felt anything like it before. 

The intensity finally died and left a tingly sensation in Skulker's hand, not unlike the pleasant warmth which radiated from a burn. But a cant of the hips and a high whimper warned Skulker that it was too much now. His prey was antsy, and the fun was over.

Almost regretfully, Skulker withdrew his hand, mindlessly wiping the excess of fluids onto the duvet, before uncuffing the restraints and the muzzle and found himself with his arms full of Technus almost immediately.

He was shaking, Skulker noted, and tentatively wrapped his large, strong arms around him and stroked his hair. He didn't say anything, because he didn't know what to say.

Technus never talked to him when he got like this either. 

For as long as they'd been doing this, Technus didn't much complain about anything. Though he wasn't exactly singing Skulker's praises either. Yet, there were certain things that were demanded of him, and Skulker had come to wordlessly comply. 

It was like an unspoken rule, of sorts. 

Whenever they made love, Skulker would lead. Anything was on the table; any kink, any idea, anything that Skulker wanted to try, Technus would let him do it. 

But the return was that afterwards, when the high had crashed and the pleasant feelings were all but gone, Technus was allowed to cling to Skulker like his life (or, rather, after life) depended on it. 

It was bizarre, and certainly quite unsettling the first few times that it had occurred. Not that Skulker had been expecting anything long term at first, but he was understandably alarmed when his lay clung to him like a lost child after they'd just finished. 

Post coital cuddling was one thing, but this was something else entirely. Technus' grip was  _ desperate _ . He would hide his face in Skulker's broad, metal chest, his shoulders shaking, and silently beg to be held until whatever powerful force had overtaken him finally passed and allowed him to relax.

It was once, only after the first time, that Skulker had ever dared to venture out of his comfort zone and actually ask what was wrong with him.

The reply that he received was only a single word, but it chilled him to his core, haunting his memory.

_ "Please." _

That was the one, pitiful reply that he'd been given, but it was just so  _ broken _ , so desolate a sound, and he could feel it in his body, in his true form, because that's where Technus always hid his face. It was a plea, a hopeless sounding cadge that did  _ not  _ fit Technus' usual demeanor.

Skulker had been a part of many 'make or break' deals in his unlife, but that was a new one for him. He chose to 'make', of course, because he knew he could handle a little extra cuddling. Really, it wasn't the act that bothered him, so much as the not knowing that did.

Why was Technus like this? Did a previous partner hurt him in the past? Skulker  _ knew  _ for a fact that he had taken Technus' virginity, but that only applied to the Technus that  _ he  _ knew.

There was another Technus, from who knows how long ago, that had once been a living, human being. 

Was Technus even his real name? He had a first name too, which many ghosts did not; so was that what he was called when he was alive? What was he like? How had he died? 

Dead Haunts were tricky creatures; some of them, like Sydney Poindexter, remembered their lives entirely, even up to their own tragic end. But others had no idea. Some Dead Haunts didn't know who where they were, how they died, or what they were supposed to do. Some of them didn't remember the person they were before, and some of them didn't even remember their own names.

There was so many unknowns that came with a Dead Haunt, but there was one extra little factor that pissed Skulker off the most.

They kept secrets.

It was a very human thing to do; to lie, to deceive, to pretend to be something you're not. Some lies they told out of necessity, some for fun, and some because it was easier to lie than tell the truth.

Ghost lied too, of course, but their motivations for doing so were very different. Like Skulker, for example. His body was a lie; the giant metal armor that strutted around the Ghost Zone was a figment of his own creation; it's how he saw his true self. So although he wasn't keen on others discovering how small and weak he really was, his lie was justified, and it was the only lie that he told.

Technus, however, who  _ knows _ what he could be lying about, or what he even remembers about his past self. Maybe he remembered nothing but knew he had a love for all things technology and science. Or, maybe he remembered everything, and he was a mad scientist in his former life. Or, maybe still, Technus remembered and simply made a new persona for himself, one that was technology based. After all, it wasn't like anyone was around to judge him or call him out on it.

Even so, it made Skulker's ectoplasm boil. He hated the not knowing. The potential for secrets. He was a  _ hunter _ ; it was in his nature to discover rare and valuable things and claim them as his own, and he refused to let the things that belonged to him keep their secrets. It's time that Technus learned what it really meant to completely belong to someone.

Taking Technus by the shoulders, Skulker maneuvered their positions so that his own back was against the bed and Technus was on top of him, straddling Skulker's hips and feeling his very much still alive erection pulse against his inner thigh.

Technus twitched and released his hold on Skulker, pushing himself up to a half-way sitting position, casting a quizzical glance down at him. This was a break from their normal routine. 

"Take some responsibility." 

Skulker offered plainly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

Technus huffed at him, a little indignant as the post orgasmic glow had faded and left him a little more petulant like his usual self. Yet he still silently complied, a grunt leaving his clenched teeth as the reentry of Skulker's dick reshaped his stretched entrance and filled his still sensitive passage once more.

Skulker bit back a groan as he became enveloped in that all-encompassing heat. He rested his large hands loosely on Technus' hips, looking up at the other ghost expectantly. 

Technus' pointed ears dropped slightly as his brow furrowed with his upper lip curled.

He was embarrassed, Skulker could tell, at the prospect of having to do all the work and be face to face like this. How exactly Technus found taking orders less embarrassing than taking the initiative himself, Skulker would never understand, but it was one of the many ways Technus would hide himself, his true self, and Skulker hated it.

He caught glimpses of it, when Technus lost his mind, drowning in pleasure, too drunk on ecstasy to worry about keeping his walls up. At times like that, Skulker was more at ease, feeling like everything that Technus showed him was for him and him alone. Like he was looking at Skulker like he was the only other person in the entire world.

But times like these, he could tell, there was a reserved way in which Technus moved his hips. It was a good pace, but there was no heart to it at all. 

Technus hands were splayed on Skulker's bare, metal chest to help steady himself, but the way his knuckles flexed showed how much he desperately wanted to curl his fingers in and cling and hold him yet he held himself back. His head was lolled back, face scrunched in concentration and mouth slightly agape. 

He wasn't looking at Skulker at all, and that simply wouldn't do.

Skulker reached up and grabbed Technus by the back of his neck, clutching some of his hair too as he pulled him down harshly. Before he could protest, Skulker ripped off those irritating glasses from where they had sat on Technus' face and haphazardly tossed them to the side, uncaring where they landed, or if they broke.

"Oi!"

Technus eyes were still wide from surprise but his brows had lowered to show his displeasure. Those expressive eyes, red like blood, which Technus always kept selfishly hidden, were on full display now, and it pleased Skulker to finally see the fire and passion burning within them.

"Look at me." Skulker growled; it was a command. "Every single part of you is mine. I won't allow you to hide from me."

Skulker punctuated his statement with a grunt as he took his hands and suddenly gripped the neon coloured flesh of Technus' skin, digging his fingers deep enough to bruise, and thrust his hips up  **hard** .

Technus choked, not expecting to be held so possessively or the bolts of electricity that shot through his body from the action, jolting up his spine so intensely that he saw stars for the briefest of moments. His eyes widened further, mouth agape as if to inhale when he felt Skulker once more take control and set them with a harsh pace and shallow thrusts.

His eyes turned to Skulker once more, this time, searching. But for what, Skulker didn't know. Rejection, perhaps? Well, he'd find none of that here. Skulker may not be good with words, but he always said what he meant, and meant what he said. 

The concern in those ruby red eyes began to bleed away, darkening yet alighting with passion and pleasure and a raw  _ need  _ for everything that was Skulker. Tears pricked at the edges of his vision and the vortex of emotions welling inside him created the perfect electric storm which burst forth with a high-sounding caterwaul and rocked them both to their very cores.

The raw energy now between them brought upon by Technus' frenzy was all at once too much and not enough. If felt as though their circuits and atoms were truly connected for the first time and Skulker was basking in the prize for which he'd been denied so long.

Aside from cries and pleas, there were no more words spoken between them. They could hold entire conversations just with the convergence of their bodies and express their deepest feelings to each other with just their eyes.

This time, far less selfish than the last, saw them both reach completion with the other, an odd but pleasant shared warmth spreading between. Technus did not dismount, however, but draped himself lazily on Skulker's armored body, opting to maintain their connection just a bit longer until Skulker's fake cock returned to its naturally flaccid state.

And, unlike every time before it, Technus' need for post coital cuddling was not desperate and fraught with unspoken feelings of hurt and regret. In fact, he seemed oh-so very content, and Skulker could swear that he could feel a gentle buzzing coming from Technus' chest, like the humming of a fluorescent lamp, which sounded almost like a soft purr.

Absently stroking Technus' surprisingly silky locks, Skulker retreated to his own thoughts for a while, feeling more satisfied than he'd felt in ages, but still very much energized from this flood of new information.

As much as Technus clearly needed to realize that he needed to let go of whatever unpleasant feelings he'd been harbouring deep in his undead heart, Skulker was starting to understand that he needed to see it just as much. 

It wasn't that Skulker had never felt insecure before, but more so that he hated admitting when he was. He refused to let himself feel weak, inadequate, or vulnerable, but there was something about the way Technus overlooked him in bed that brought out those old, bitter feelings.

Well, Skulker was a determined hunter, if anything, and he would take on any ghost that got between him and his beloved trophy; even if those ghosts were just the ones from Technus' past.

Ugh, great. Now this whole 'bearing your souls' thing had got him in a rather mushy mood. He felt like they had more to talk about; like there were a million things left unsaid. But, he supposed, that his actions would have to speak for him for now.

With that, the flames of Skulker's mohawk died and the green glow behind his eyes vanished. Technus was roused from his near sleep by the sound of mechanisms unlocking and a pressured  _ hiss  _ before seeing the head of Skulker's armored body remove itself from his shoulders, followed by a small, green blob crawling out of the open hole.

Skulker watched Technus blink at him in confusion; it was not the first time Technus has seen his true form, but it was the first Skulker had willingly shown it to him. It was an unspoken rule, everyone knew, that Skulker  _ never  _ left the safety of his armor unless he was making repairs, alone, or, was forced out of it from taking too much damage.

Skulker's true form was really an unremarkable little thing. Small in stature, nearly shapeless in body, two basic arms and legs, and a face that made up fifty three percent of his entire body. He looked so helpless and weak, but Technus, at least, knew better than that.

Grateful for the silence, because Skulker was barely even ok with what he was doing right now and he was definitely sure he couldn't trust himself to explain his actions, he gave Technus a determined look and walked down his own armored chest, onto Technus' hand and made his way up his arm until he was sitting on his shoulder. Wordlessly, Skulker grabbed some of Technus' lovely, smooth hair and pulled it over himself like a blanket, snuggling down and getting himself comfortable.

Technus still appeared to be confused by the action but an easy smile settled on his face and he made no move to brush Skulker away. He merely gave Skulker a gentle pat on the head with the tip of his finger then settled down, still relaxing on top of Skulker's armored, and now empty, body.

It wasn't exactly what one would consider to be a 'lover's embrace', but it worked for them. Skulker and Technus were both bad at expressing themselves, but somehow, their true feelings still connected, and this unlikely pair experienced what they can only find in each other; solace, and hope.


End file.
